


Eternal Hope and Majesty

by tirsynni



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-24 04:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19165933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirsynni/pseuds/tirsynni
Summary: All of Frigga's and Odin's promises of greatness mean nothing to Thor when Thanos prepares to snap his fingers.Fortunately, there are other promises to be kept.





	Eternal Hope and Majesty

**Author's Note:**

> Written because I'm going to be eternally indignant on behalf of my boys.

When Thor was born, Frigga told him, the greatest storm Asgard had seen in a thousand years tore apart the sky. Thunder boomed and shook the walls. Lightning blinded all who dared to look beyond the safety of their homes. Power and majesty and Odin needed to tell her all this later, because he caused an equal storm within her. 

_ “Ew, Amma,” Thor said, and Frigga laughed.  _

_ “But it is true, darling.”  _

As her labor raged, so did the storm. When at last Thor emerged into the world, the thunder roared as never before. Windows shattered. Several servants screamed.

Odin laughed. Truly his child, he praised.

_ “And Loki?” Thor asked. “What about Loki?” _

_ Frigga smiled and kissed his forehead. “Loki has his own tale.” _

From birth, greatness. Thor, the Golden Prince of Asgard. The Thunderer. Born to be king. Not until his banishment did Thor know doubt. Not until Loki’s fall did he know failure. Not until Ragnarok did he know the weight of hard choices. Not until their Ark and their meeting with Thanos in space did he know defeat.

Yet Thor only realized the depth of the lie, the weight of his deficiency, when he slammed his axe into Thanos’s chest and Thanos  _ smiled _ .

“You should have aimed for the head,” Thanos said and brought the fingers of the Infinity Gauntlet together.

His promises of greatness, his lessons of humility, his vows to protect his people, to avenge his loved ones… Thor saw them die then, in the blood streaming from Thanos’s chest, in the madness in the Titan’s eyes, in gold touching gold.

He failed.

Except Thanos gasped, like Thor had struck him again. The two fingers brushed and then stopped. Thor watched, eyes wide and heart frozen in his chest, as the Infinity Gauntlet -- and Thanos’s hand -- tumbled to the ground. Blood poured from Thanos’s wrist.

The battlefield was silent.

Standing over Thanos’s bloodied stump, Loki panted, the same knife from the Ark in his hands. He looked too pale with something wild in his eyes,  _ electric _ in a way Thor didn’t recognize, his hair a mess of curls on his head. He looked mad and so beautiful Thor felt tears streaming from his good eye.

“He is an Odinson, you see,” Loki said, and there was madness there, too, his voice a little too rough, a little too fierce, “and we always have a flair for the dramatic.” He turned to Thor and smiled and  _ that _ Thor recognized, the gleam of mischief, the shine of a joke shared.  _ Well, Brother? _

Every ounce of arrogance bled from Thanos’s face like the blood poured from his wrist. “No --” he gasped, but Thor gave him no more time for pretty words, for speeches. Thor yanked back his axe and swung again.

He didn’t aim for the head. He aimed for the neck.

Thanos’s head tumbled to join his hand in the dirt.

After a heartbeat, Thor released his axe, and it thumped like a common weapon onto the ground.

He stared at Loki, drinking him in, wine so fine he felt dizzy with it. No bruises marred his neck; no blood stained his fair skin. He didn’t look quite right, but Thor struggled to notice the differences when he could see the heave of Loki’s chest with each pant, the flush of life in his cheeks, the wild smile on his lips and in his eyes. Loki looked at Thor and grinned and they were back on the Ark, Asgard burning behind them and safe on their ship, the bottle top in his hand.

“I’m here,” Loki said, and Thor felt his knees shake. Loki’s grin widened into something manic. “And look! The sun shines!” He waved the hand holding the bloody knife and didn’t blink when droplets splattered onto Thanos’s corpse. The motion did draw his eye downward, and Loki spit on Thanos’s still body, green eyes blazing and savage. “And I told  _ you _ that you would never be a god.”

Loki, so right and so wrong,  _ alive _ , and Thor choked on a sob and stumbled forward. When he threw his arms around Loki, Loki yelped, but he wasn’t choking, wasn’t gagging, just grumbling indignantly, and it was the best sound Thor had ever heard. Loki even  _ felt _ odd in his arms, too hot, like Thor’s lightning seared under his skin, and  _ Thor didn’t care _ . He was solid and moving in his grip and then Loki hugged him back. Thor wept and tightened his grip.

“You’re alive,” he gasped, and the wildness of Loki’s curls was odd but he knew the scent of Loki’s skin, Loki’s sweat, Loki’s armor. He pulled Loki tight against him and Loki didn’t stop grumbling but he didn’t pull away, his arms firm around Thor.

“Didn’t I tell you, Brother,” Loki whispered, and the tease in his voice, the thickness of emotion held back, was all Loki, “that the sun would shine on us again?”

Thor laughed and sobbed and pressed a damp kiss to Loki’s temple. That broke Loki at last, and he huffed and pushed at Thor’s chest until Thor yielded. At least, enough for Thor to wrap his hand around the back of Loki’s neck. “Brother --”

Loki flinched. Thor jerked his hand back. Wide-eyed, they stared at each other, Thor holding his hand to the side. “It wasn’t a trick,” Thor breathed.

Loki’s smile turned rueful. The strange sheen in his eyes remained. “Nay, Brother.  _ That _ wasn’t the trick.”

Behind him, Thor heard the mortals gathering, so many still unaware that they won. He couldn’t bring himself to look away from Loki. Now that he focused, he saw it: a brilliant gleam shining behind Loki’s eyes, tracing under Loki’s skin. “The Eternal Flame.”

“Used for more than controlling armies of the undead,” Loki agreed. He didn’t move away from Thor, but Thor knew Loki: Loki was ready to dart away. To completely run? Thor didn’t think so. He had the chance on Sakaar, at Ragnarok, when Thanos came. No, he wouldn’t run, but Thor chanced losing him the same.

Instead, Thor leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Loki’s. How odd for the Eternal Flame to burn inside a Frost Giant. “One day, Brother, we will discuss your habit of keeping secrets.” He felt a smile stretch his lips. “But not today.” Today, when Loki’s tricks and secrets and clever fingers brought Loki back to him.

Though Thor had to wonder: what  _ else _ did Loki steal before fleeing? And what had Loki stolen in the time he pretended to be Odin?

It didn’t matter. Loki could steal whatever he wanted as long as it brought him back to Thor.

Loki relaxed against him, and his eyes shone. Yes. Far easier to adjust to than Loki’s cooling corpse. “I have never seen you not aim for the head.”

“I usually want them to die, not suffer,” Thor admitted. The reminder of Thanos pulled him back. They weren’t done yet.

Loki hummed and dropped to his knees. If Thanos’s headless corpse bothered him -- or the bulging eyes of Thanos’s bodiless head -- it didn’t show. There was something strangely satisfying about watching Loki tug Thanos’s hand out of the Infinity Gauntlet. Looking as pleased as a cat with feathers jutting from its maw, Loki held the Infinity Gauntlet out to Thor, still on his knees. Presenting something far more terrible and powerful than a crown. “Here you are, Your Majesty. Bring back those  _ he _ stole from us.” The Eternal Flame blazed in Loki’s eyes, turning them electric green. It was like a shadow passed over his skin. “With this, you can even make us a new home.”

Triumph danced giddily through Thor’s veins. Already, Thor could see it: Asgard returned, brilliant and golden. His people alive again.  _ Frigga _ alive again, free to live out the remainder of her time instead of cut short by a blade to the back. It would be perfect. It would be  _ greatness _ .

Inches from the Gauntlet, Thor’s hand froze. Loki frowned. “Brother? Come, take it.”

Behind them, the voices grew, in number and in volume. The others would be there soon. Others who surely would not react well to the Infinity Gauntlet in Loki’s hands.

But Thor couldn’t bring himself to move. “I’ll fail,” he whispered.

Loki blinked at him. The wild energy simmering under his skin quieted. “What? Thor, what are you talking about?”

Thor licked his lips. He was supposed to be crowned King, and it took a single trick from Loki to prove how unworthy he was. When offered the chance to take the crown, he refused, preferring the path of the warrior. Again and again, he disregarded the responsibilities of Kinghood. When at last it was forced upon him, he failed beyond measure. His people, destroyed first by Hela, then by Thanos. 

Again and again, he failed.

“You were right, Brother.” Thor met Loki’s confused gaze and smiled weakly. “I was unworthy, and I’m still unworthy.” He gestured at Thanos. “Even when it mattered most, I let my rage take control, striking his chest instead of going for a killing blow. If you had not come, then he would have won. All because of my pride and need for vengeance.”

Thor expected many things: for Loki to lose his temper, perhaps, or for Loki to mock him. For Loki to shrug, tell him that he had his chance, and put on the Infinity Gauntlet himself. If Loki did, Thor didn’t think he would stop him. Loki ruled in Odin’s guise for years, and while the other Realms faltered,  _ their people _ were safe. They didn’t last at all under Thor’s rule.

What he didn’t expect was for Loki to roll his eyes. “Oh, Thor. You twit. That is why I am here: to offer guidance and support.” He smiled at Thor, fond and exasperated both, so familiar even with the Eternal Flame burning inside him. “Your greatest problem with ruling was that you wanted Kingship to be like being a Prince: easy, natural, and with everything handed to you. It  _ won’t _ be easy, you will have to make the hard choices, and you do not have the choice to hide away when you fail. You will be a great king  _ because _ you hesitate now, not in spite of it.”

Still, Thor’s hand remained still. That sounded nothing like Odin’s guidance.

“Your people need you, Thor.” Loki raised the Gauntlet higher. “You have hidden away from the Kingship long enough, but you will not be alone. I will be there to keep you from making too many stupid mistakes.” He cocked an eyebrow. “And if you take the bloody Gauntlet already, you can have Heimdall there to help you, too.”

“But what if I fail?” Thor asked helplessly.

Another eyeroll. “You will. The unfortunate side effect of living. Unlike Odin, though, you can claim your mistakes and fix them. You have come far from the prince whose coronation I ruined.” Loki bounced the Gauntlet in his hands. “Now please take this before your mortal friends see me with this. I have no doubt they will shoot first and they  _ will _ aim for the head.”

That. That actually didn’t make Thor feel better. Still, he picked up the Infinity Gauntlet. He stared at it, still dripping with Thanos’s blood. It was beginning to congeal. “What else would you advise, Advisor?” He tried to inject humor into his voice. He failed.

Loki didn’t move. “Do not make the Asgard of old. Make  _ your _ Asgard. A proud home for our people. Leave Odin’s legacies to rot.”

Loki’s steady gaze felt heavier than the Infinity Gauntlet. Loki, who he failed time and time again and who still looked at him like he could do  _ something _ right. Could do  _ this _ right.

“I will be beside you, Brother,” Loki said quietly. “You won’t do this alone.”

Thor inhaled and slipped his hand into the Infinity Gauntlet. He felt its power, stronger than his lightning, burning brighter than the flames which engulfed Asgard.

Frigga and Odin both promised that he was born to greatness, but Thor didn’t want that. He wanted to be  _ good _ , to protect his people. Once he cared for the adoration of the crowd, their cheers, the thrill of his lightning burning in his veins and in the sky. But what did all that matter if those who cheered fell, if his lightning did nothing to protect them?

No, Thor cared not for greatness. If he could keep his people, his loved ones, safe, happy, then he was content.

Thor took a deep breath and snapped his fingers.

**Author's Note:**

> For more Loki, Thor, and other fandoms, check me out on [tumblr](https://tirsynni.tumblr.com/). :)


End file.
